The present invention relates to a drive system for a wind turbine.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
A drive train of a wind turbine essentially comprises system components such as power grid connection elements, generators, clutches, gearboxes and rotor shafts. Inverters are frequently provided on the power grid side. Brakes are often provided in the form of mechanical brakes on fast-running shafts between gearbox and generator, since braking torques are smaller at that point for reasons due to transmission ratio.
Vastly different requirements dependent on the individual case exist in wind turbine plants with regard to a connection of a pitch tube on the gearbox side to add-on components specified by a system manufacturer or plant operator, in particular slip ring units. This makes it difficult to use standardized pitch tubes for selected gearbox sizes and therefore leads to increased costs.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide a drive system for a wind turbine, wherein at least one gear stage of the drive system can be easily connected to a multiplicity of different sized generators.